RT Journal
A1 FINEGOLD SM
T1 KAnamycin
JF A.M.A. Archives of Internal Medicine
JO A.M.A. Archives of Internal Medicine
YR 1959
FD July 1
VO 104
IS 1
SP 15
OP 28
DO 10.1001/archinte.1959.00270070017003
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinte.1959.00270070017003
AB Kanamycin was first described by Umezawa et al. in 19571; it is produced by Streptomyces kanamyceticus.Chemistry
The crystalline sulfate of kanamycin is water-soluble, alcohol-insoluble, and basic. It is a very stable compound with less than 10% loss after autoclaving for one hour at 120 C; it is stable over a pH range of 2 to 11. Cron and his co-workers2 have determined that kanamycin consists of two amino sugars linked glycosidally to 2-deoxystreptamine, with the structural formula shown in Figure 1. This structure resembles that of neomycin and has some similarity to streptomycin.Paper chromatography of kanamycin preparations reveals a second antibiotic, kanamycin B. Kanamycin B exhibited more toxicity than kanamycin A in animal studies 3 and is present to the extent of only 2% to 3% in later preparations of the drug.Microbiological Studies
1. Spectrum.
—In vitro, kanamycin is active against a variety of